


Pieces of a Puzzle

by ContrEeri



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 10:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3171302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ContrEeri/pseuds/ContrEeri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The things they know and the things they think they know; glimpses of the truth and the actual truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old fic from 2010 (spruced up and edited). I wrote this back when I was using LJ frequently. This story was for the 500themes LJ community, and the prompt was 19. Fragmented Truths.

1.

He wasn’t acting like himself.

That was about all Temari knew, but it was enough to make her worry. If it had been Kankurou she wouldn’t worry quite so much, but it wasn’t. It was _Gaara_ and that was cause for alarm.

His odd moods had been dangerous to those around him when they were younger, but now that they were adults and he was the Kazekage it shouldn’t have caused her to worry quite so much; but those memories and fears were so hard to get rid of. She hated doubting her brother, her Kazekage; and yet she could not keep the anxiety at bay.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep a closer eye on him because she had to return to Konoha to continue her diplomacy mission. Her return home had been brief, but not brief enough that she'd missed the chances in Gaara. Hopefully Kankurou would take care of him while she was gone.

2.

Kankurou didn’t want to think about it.

It was just too strange. After all, this wasn't just his little brother, it was his Kazekage and, not only that, but the person he’d been afraid of for most of his youth. It was Sabaku no Gaara, which made the whole thing downright _weird._

But he couldn’t deny that he wanted to see his little brother happy. He just wasn’t sure if he was ready to see his Kazekage date—if you could even call it that, he thought with a shudder. He blamed it all on that loudmouth Leaf shinobi for introducing Gaara to his strange ideas. Kankurou could bet that it was all because of that damned foreigner that Gaara had met whoever it was he was so keen on—that ridiculous looking Leaf was too social, dragging the Kazekage around the village and forcing him to interact with the people who both feared and loved him. Kankurou cursed under his breath.

He just hoped he wouldn’t have to give Gaara "the talk". 

3.

Lee’s letters were always the highlight of Gai’s day. He received one every two to three days, and they were always long and full of the usual excited babble about Lee’s life in Suna: his training, the missions he would go on, the Kazekage, the new friends he was making, and how much he missed his wonderful sensei and his teammates.

Sometimes the letters would accompany a gift or, and this was Gai’s favourite, news of when Lee’s next visit was. It was difficult for them both to be apart; they were close, like father and son, and Lee was his most beloved pupil. But Lee was a man now, on an important mission of his very own—a diplomatic mission, an exchange of shinobi between two allied villages. He could remember just how excited Lee had been when he’d been assigned to Suna; he could remember the worry he’d felt at parting with Lee, at sending Lee into the hands of the person who’d come the closest to ending Lee’s life and crushing his dreams.

However, he hadn’t said anything to Lee because he hadn’t wanted to ruin it for him.

When he did not receive a letter after the usual two days, he was sure it would come the next day. When it did not come on the third day, he began to worry. He didn’t write to Lee right away—after all, Lee was a grown man and a strong shinobi, and he didn’t want to come across as overprotective. When the fifth day passed by without word, he went to the Hokage.

On the sixth day, his fears had been eased by the arrival of a letter. This letter, however, was unusually short, and full of private concerns and questions. Lee apologized profusely for the lateness of his letter, then he had explained the reason—part of it, Gai thought—and asked endless questions.

Gai had smiled, confused but happy. If Lee had found his most important person in Suna—whoever she was—Gai would give them his blessing, even if it meant never going on a mission with Lee again.

His reply letter was long and heartfelt, and he hoped it put the fears Lee had expressed at ease.

4.

Naruto frowned down at the letter.

The diplomatic exchange was nearing it's end. Lee and Temari had spent months away from their villages, all in the name of diplomacy and peace. It had been a successful endeavor for both shinobi involved, as well as their villages; the mission had been worth the time apart from their loved ones, and now after so long they would be returning home. 

There had been one hitch in the mission though: Naruto had begun to wonder whether or not Temari would request an extension after seeing her relationship with Shikamaru develop. He would certainly have no problems with it, but even a temporary extension would require a lot of paperwork and inspire quite a few suspicious questions from the other villages. 

Temari surprised Naruto, though: she didn't request an extension. But an even greater surprise was delivered by messenger hawk from Suna. 

While Temari might not feel the need for an extension, Lee apparently did and was requesting one—or rather Gaara was requesting one on Lee’s behalf without explanation. 

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Gaara wasn’t one to lie, and leaving out information was a move he would not expect Gaara to use on him. The Kazekage was difficult enough to read in person—trying to decipher his letter was like trying to decipher a foreign language or a code without a key. 

He huffed, shaking his head. He didn’t actually mind Lee staying longer, but he did mind not knowing the reasons for it. Perhaps Gai would know more about it—after all, Lee wrote to him regularly. If anyone knew, it would be Maito Gai.

Thankfully, Gai did not let Naruto down. 

“His most important person?” Naruto repeated, more baffled than before. If Lee had fallen in love why had Gaara made the request on his behalf? Of all people, Gaara seemed like the least likely person to understand romance motivating such a choice, and even less likely to be accommodating of it. 

Naruto snorted, dismissed Gai, and wrote his reply.

5.

It was strange seeing Lee again after over a year of being apart. He looked the same, except for the deep tan that spoke of his time out of doors in the desert. Tenten had thought he would look different somehow, but Lee still wore his green suit and leg warmers; and he still had the same bowl-cut and thick eyebrows. Perhaps the woman Lee had fallen in love with didn’t mind his odd looks. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually moving there for good,” she pouted. Neji huffed behind her as Lee finished boxing up the last of his stuff—it was his way of agreeing with her.

“I am sorry to be saying goodbye, but I promise to visit often! I even promised to take on missions for Hokage-sama if he ever needs someone fast!” Lee beamed, as if being able to take on missions for two different villages was the great honour he could ever have imagined. 

“Well, I hope this woman is worth it,” she groused.

Lee flushed looking away and mumbling, “My most important person is definitely worth it.”

Tenten pouted some more. “It’s too bad it couldn’t have been Sakura.”

“Tenten,” Neji said, his tone gently reprimanding.

“What? It’s true! Then he could stay with us! Don’t act like you don’t want him to stay.”

“Lee should do what’s best for him.”

Lee gave them both a sheepish smile as they glared at each other—well, as Tenten glared and Neji stared blankly back at her, doing his best not to give away that he’d rather Lee stay too. “Please do not fight. I promise to visit.”

Tenten turned her glare on him, but it softened quickly at the pleading look on his face. “If she makes you happy, then I guess I’m okay with it.”

Lee’s smile was just as bright as always, but there was a new happiness to it that Tenten hadn’t noticed before. He was so in love, so happy, so _calm_ ; she should probably stop pouting over this. It would only upset Lee to know that his teammates were sad.

“Will we ever get to meet her?” Tenten asked, curious about the woman who’d taken Lee, who was so like a brother, from her.

Lee didn’t meet her eyes when he replied. “Someday, I am sure you will meet my most important person.”

Tenten had to wonder why Lee never said her name, but didn’t say anything as he hugged her goodbye.

6.

It wasn’t a woman who had won Lee’s heart, of that much Neji was sure.

If it had been a woman, Lee would not have been so careful to avoid saying the name of the person who had captured his heart—either that, or the woman was a political figure, which Neji highly doubted. Neji was sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that Lee was in love with another man. It wasn’t terribly uncommon in shinobi villages, less common than the few remaining samurai clans, but more so than non-shinobi towns.

It was still strange to think that Lee had fallen for another man when he'd spent so many years fawning over Sakura, and even stranger to think that he would be willing to move to Suna for him. Shinobi, unlike samurai, were a bit more reserved about such relationships; by moving to Suna permanently, Lee was as good as giving away that he was seeing someone and, unless Lee was living in his own place, it would be obvious to anyone what was going on between Lee and his mystery lover—if they were lovers yet. Neji shuddered at the thought. 

Tenten hadn’t shut up about it since Lee’s visit to pack the last of his belongings. Neji was sure she’d have an aneurysm once she found out the truth about Lee’s lover—keeping anything from her always garnered such a reaction, but something this huge would surely result in her hightailing it from Konoha straight to Suna. He hoped Lee was prepared for that; he should know better than to keep things from Tenten. 

It did make him wonder why Lee hadn't told them, though. After all, they were his best friends. Surely he knew that they would support him no matter what? 

7.

Lee didn’t mind leaving Konoha as much as he thought he would.

It was certainly upsetting, but on the whole he was too happy and excited to let sadness ruin this for him. After all, love was the most beautiful and splendid of all expressions of youth! It had been a surprise, to say the least, that he had found it in Suna. He had not gone on his mission looking for love; in fact, he had still been set on waiting for Sakura. But his heart had had other things in store for him. 

Of course, realizing that Gaara was his most important person was far scarier than he'd ever imagined love being; it had been even scarier than nearly having his dreams crushed. He’d sought advice from his sensei, doing his best to keep the truth of the matter as secret as possible—he’d felt terrible about that, but he’d been more concerned about someone coming across his letter than telling his sensei what he would rather tell him in person—and thanks to Gai-sensei he had had the courage to confess to Gaara.

It hadn’t been easy by any means, even with his sensei's advice. Gaara had been on edge so long afterward that Lee had thought that he'd permanently damaged their friendship. Lee had been so deeply worried he'd nearly canceled his trip to Konoha, but then he would have disappointed his friends and sensei. He'd left, fearful that upon his return Gaara would be colder and distant, but determined to enjoy his visit nonetheless. 

And then he'd returned to find Gaara waiting for him, still tense but more willing to talk than he had been. 

That had been the very beginning of what had to be, at least in Lee’s mind, the most spectacular romance in the history of the world. It wasn’t anything like what he had expected, of course. Gaara didn’t like flowers the way Sakura did, and he gave Lee odd looks whenever he tried to shower him with flowery praises and speeches. Gaara also hadn’t liked touching at first—Lee had just wanted to hold hands, but Gaara had pulled away for the first month of their tentative relationship— even now he was still very tentative about such things.

Lee had seen it as a challenge, like he did with most things, and whenever they made progress—like when Gaara had first leaned over to press his lips to Lee’s cheek or the time he’d tentatively brushed his hand against Lee’s forehead, brushing hair out of his eyes—Lee felt his heart swell, felt as though nothing could be better than this and that all of the waiting, all of the hard work was more than paying off.

“Gaara,” Lee said, looking around the door of Gaara’s bedroom— _their_ bedroom—carefully. He was still unsure about sharing a room, still so embarrassed about even seeing Gaara without his shirt on that he hesitated on the threshold. 

Gaara looked up from his desk, the crease of his forehead softening at the sight of Lee. “You’re back.”

Lee’s anxiety melted away. Gaara so rarely stated the obvious and the fact that he had meant he was pleased. “I ran as fast as I could.”

Gaara rose, moving towards Lee, slow and careful. They had been like this for six months, slow, careful, and so unsure, but happy. Lee could not have asked for more, he did not need more, not now. They were growing, blossoming in the Springtime of their Youth—there was no need to rush it.

“I missed you,” Lee whispered, leaning forward slowly, the way he always did so as not to startle Gaara, before placing a kiss on his cheek. His cheeks burned suddenly and he looked down, feeling sheepish. Whenever they spent time apart, he became worried over the silliest of things, like whether or not Gaara would suddenly change his mind. But Gaara always eased Lee’s worries. 

“You were gone longer than last time,” Gaara said, the wrinkles returning. Lee reached his hand up, moving slow—Gaara’s eyes followed the motion, his head jerking down in a stiff nod—then he gently pressed his finger against the crease, smoothing it out.

“I am sorry. There was much to do.”

“Your things are on their way?”

“Yes. And I spoke with Gai-sensei.”

Gaara stiffened. “What did he say?”

“He is very happy for us.”

Gaara took a moment to take that in before he nodded. “Good. I know that his approval meant a lot to you.”

Lee stared at Gaara for a long moment. It had been on Lee’s mind for so long: the fear that his sensei would disown him had kept him up at night and had even upset Gaara. Lee had tried talking to him about it so many times and it wasn’t until right before he’d left for Konoha that he’d found out Gaara’s own worries: would Lee leave Gaara if his sensei did not approve?

“I would have come back no matter what he said, you know,” he reminded Gaara gently, moving his hand into Gaara’s hair.

Gaara hummed, his eyes falling closed for a moment.

“Have you told your brother and sister?”

“Temari is rather busy and Kankurou has only just returned from a mission. I only managed to inform him that you would be moving in with us.”

“Ah,” Lee said, nodding. “I am sure that he will figure it out then.”

Downstairs, the door opened and Temari and Kankurou could be heard talking. Lee felt Gaara go tense. “Are you all right?”

“What if they are not all right with this?”

Lee looked down sadly. While Gaara might care for him a great deal, Lee knew deep down that Gaara’s family and his village came first. Lee would not come between him and those things that meant so much to him. “If it is a matter of your family not approving, I can go. I would not want to cause such—”

The crush of Gaara’s mouth on his—bruising in its intensity—stopped the rest of Lee’s sentence. It was dizzying to be kissing Gaara like this—they rarely did anything so intense—and when Gaara pulled away, Lee’s face was burning and he was breathing heavy. “You’re staying,” Gaara said, fierce as a sandstorm.

Lee could only nod mutely in response.

“Gaara?” Temari called from downstairs.

“We do not have to tell them now.”

Gaara stared up into Lee’s face for a long moment before he shook his head. “Yes, we do.”

Lee smiled, pressing a careful kiss to Gaara’s forehead. “I will be at your side when you tell them.”

Gaara slipped past Lee, moving into the hall. Before he went any further, he grabbed Lee’s hand, squeezing it tighter than necessary. Not that Lee minded—after all, he wasn’t the Beautiful Blue Beast for nothing.

“Gaara?” Kankurou called, his voice coming from the kitchen.

“Are you ready?”

“As long as you hold my hand,” Gaara murmured, words stilted with anxiety.

“Always.”

They made their way downstairs, Gaara maintaining his vice-like grip on Lee’s hand, while Lee ran his thumb in soothing circles over the back of Gaara’s hand. Whatever happened, they had each other, and that, Lee was sure, would not change.


	2. The Whole Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth revealed.

8.

Kankurou was going to kill Lee. How had he been so oblivious? How had he missed the signs? What kind of shinobi was he? He’d known that Gaara had met someone, he’d seen the changes, however subtle, in his younger brother: the small smiles, the few hours of rest here and there, the unexpected need to understand romantic bonds—how had he not picked up on it? How had he not connected it to Lee? They spent all their time together, after all; they sparred and talked and ate their meals together. Kankurou had even noticed the odd looks and the increase in whispered words, but he'd never thought to connect Gaara's strange interest in romance with Rock Lee. 

He was definitely going to kill that damned foreigner, but first he had to tell Temari. He’d need backup, after all— _speedy fucking Leaf bastard._

“Temari!” he shouted, rushing up to his sister and drawing the attention of the shinobi in the cafeteria. Temari had been working late since returning from Konoha, dealing with more paperwork than was proper for such a strong shinobi. He knew she had been aching to do something more than fill out forms and write up reports; Kankurou hoped she appreciated that he hadn’t gone off on his own to kill Lee.

“What is your problem?” she snapped. There were bags under her eyes and her mouth was in a thin line, a sure sign that Kankurou needed to be on his guard around her unless he wanted to end up on the wrong end of her fan—she could be so testy when she was tired.

Kankurou stopped in front of her, looking around warily. “Can we talk in private?”

Temari’s eyes narrowed. “I have work to do, Kankurou. I don’t have time—”

“Just trust me,” he growled under his breath, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from her food. She would probably kill him later.

“What the hell is this about?”

“Our brother,” he muttered, afraid to say anything else until they were someplace more private. That, at least, kept her from complaining as Kankurou dragged her out into the Suna streets, heading towards the Kazekage’s residence which they shared with Gaara.

“Are you planning on telling me what’s wrong?” she whispered. She looked at Kankurou with wide, anxious eyes, as though all her worst fears had just been realized. “What’s happened? What’s wrong with him?” Her pace picked up, forcing Kankurou to do the same. “I knew something was wrong. I knew I shouldn’t have left,” she went on before Kankurou could say anything.

“Woah, sis,” Kankurou said, tugging at her arm again, but this time to pull her back. He hadn’t realized that she’d been worried about Gaara. “Listen, it’s not like that. He’s—well, I think he’s, uh, seeing someone.”

Temari came to an abrupt halt, turning slowly to glare at Kankurou, her nostrils flaring. “You mean to tell me that the reason you just came into the cafeteria like you were being chased by a hoard of enemy shinobi was because our little brother—our socially awkward, formally homocidal younger brother—is _seeing someone?_ ”

Kankurou swallowed hard. “Uh, yeah?”

He should have told her who he was seeing before he’d said that. It would have saved him the headache.

“Ouch!” he cried from the floor, glaring up at his sister who was in the process of placing her fan back in its strap. “What the hell, Temari?!”

“Don’t you “what the hell?” me! I have been busting my ass for the past three days, putting reports together, staying up late—I haven’t even seen Gaara for more than twenty minutes at a time because I’m so busy—and you interrupt the only fucking break I’ve had in the past twenty-four hours because our brother is finally— _finally_ —reaching out to someone new?”

Kankurou hadn’t thought of it that way—it made him feel guilty until he remembered just who Gaara was with. “You don’t understand. He’s with—” He broke off, getting to his feet so he didn’t have to speak so loudly. “It’s not that I don’t want him to be happy—and I didn’t mean to worry you. I just, fuck, I’m worried! That damned Leaf—” He huffed, tugging her along.

“What do you mean by that?” Temari said slowly, her words soft, mouth barely moving.

“It’s Lee. That’s who he’s seeing.”

9.

Nothing could have prepared Temari for that, not even the fact that Lee had requested becoming a permanent resident in Suna. She hadn’t even questioned it when Gaara had said that Lee would be living with them. She’d just assumed that Lee’s permanent residence was being prepared, that the person he was seeing needed time to get them a bigger place or something. Of course, she had never thought that Gaara would find love—not this kind of love; the love between two people that required so much trust and intimacy. It was unfathomable.

After hearing this revelation, she stood for a long moment in silence, trying to get over the shock. She’d been worried ever since her last visit, when she'd first noticed Gaara's strange behaviour—withdrawn and on edge, as though he were close to lashing out. Coming home had been a necessity because Gaara had been in need of her. That’s what she’d thought, at least. Apparently, he’d only missed Lee.

It was laughable. She had been so tense all throughout her mission, so concerned for her brother—she hadn’t even thought that it could be anything other than Gaara slipping from them, reverting to his former self.

“Temari?” Kankurou’s voice broke her from her thoughts. “You okay?”

She laughed, her eyes burning. “Fuck. You bastard!” She smacked Kankurou upside the head, beginning to walk again, moving towards the home she shared with her two brothers and—apparently—Gaara’s boyfriend. That would take some getting used to but, unlike Kankurou, Temari wasn’t upset. How could she be? She felt guilty for doubting her brother, but relieved that she’d been wrong—more than that, she was happy to know that he had found another sort of happiness to indulge in. Gaara deserved all the happiness in the world as far as Temari was concerned. 

“Sis?”

“I can’t believe you,” she said under her breath. “I thought—never mind. But if you ever pull something like this again, I swear I’ll kill you.”

Kankurou frowned. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? He’s not relapsing, he’s reached out to someone outside of the family, he’s found something to make him happy—”

“But he’s—” Kankurou quickly lowered his voice. “He’s seeing Rock Lee. He’s with a foreign shinobi! And of all people—”

“Kankurou, are you really going to march in there and tell Gaara that he can’t be with Lee? Are you really going to go in there and ruin this for him? All his life he’s wanted love—you know that just as well as I do, better than most of the villagers—and now you want to take that away?”

“How can we trust that Lee won’t hurt him?” Kankurou grumbled.

Temari snorted. “You can’t actually be serious? He moved here to be with him—left his ridiculous sensei behind back in Konoha, didn’t he? If anyone’s going to hurt Gaara, it’s you with your attitude. Lee’s the last person I’d expect to do something like that.”

Kankurou was silent and when Temari glanced at him he was staring at the ground mullishly. He had always hated it when she was right, she remembered with a smile.

“Come on, let’s get back and welcome Lee to the family,” she said, just to be mean.

Kankurou spluttered, his face reddening as Temari laughed, feeling good for the first time in months as she made her way back home with Kankurou groaning and grumbling behind her.

10.

Lee’s last visit, when he had come to pack his things so he could officially move to Suna, had been rather surprising. Gai had known why Lee wanted to move there permanently, but Lee’s letters had never once mentioned the fact that the person who had capture Lee’s heart was, in fact, the Kazekage of Suna himself.

Gai had been stuck on that for all of half a minute—long enough to upset Lee something terrible—before he’d exploded with one of the most flowery speeches he had ever delivered. It had made Lee cry, which had made Gai cry, and they had embraced each other for a long moment, Lee’s relief as obvious as the tears on his face.

It was still a bit—well, Gai wasn’t sure what the best word to describe it was, but it had taken him a long time to get over the shock of Lee’s relationship with Sabaku no Gaara. Not that he didn’t support his beloved student fully, because of course he did. However, he had also been worried. Lee was his most beloved pupil and Gaara was the person who had almost ended Lee’s life, almost crushed his dreams, and now he was the one taking Lee from his home, from his team, from Gai. Of course he was worried, but he couldn’t very well go to the Kazekage and tell him to take care of Lee. That would be more than inappropriate. Nevermind matter the fact that Gai was older than Gaara. He was the Kazekage and Gai had no right to tell him what to do and what not to do.

Gai would just have to trust him and, when it came right down to it, he was the person Lee had chosen. If Gai could not trust Gaara, he could at least trust Lee.

After Lee had returned to Suna and Gai had had more time to think about the reality of the situation, he decided that he ought to send Gaara a letter. He could only say so much—he certainly wasn’t going to order Gaara to take good care of his beloved pupil or anything like that!—but he did want to make a gesture of acceptance so that the Kazekage would understand completely just how much support he had from Gai and also so he could make it clear how lucky Gaara was. Just in case he didn’t know already.

Somehow, Gai was sure Gaara already did.

11. 

It wasn’t as though they could have kept it secret forever, but why they’d kept it from him Naruto just couldn’t fathom. Truthfully, he was hurt that they hadn’t trusted him. Had Gaara and Lee thought he wouldn’t accept them? Had they thought that he wouldn’t allow Lee to stay in Suna?

He knew there was no point in sitting around, mulling it over, but he couldn’t really help it. Gaara and Lee were his friends, and if he had known he would have made more of an effort to show them support. Although, he supposed by allowing Lee to stay in Suna with little information as to why had been support enough. They’d gone ahead with it, after all. Gai had reported, when Naruto had called him in to verify the truth of the rumors that had been flying around the village—other villages as well, most likely—that Lee was in fact very happy and that his relationship with Gaara was blossoming in the full Springtime of Youth as it should be.

Naruto didn’t even want to think about what that could possibly mean. The idea of Lee and Gaara in a relationship—as cute as it was, Naruto had to admit—was strange, and if he had to think about them doing “relationship stuff”—like holding hands or kissing—he would probably keel right over. He was happy for them, though.

He just wanted to know how they'd thought they were going to keep it secret, because once they’d moved in together that had announced it as effectively as Gaara making a speech with the entire village listening. And word traveled fast. With all of Konoha buzzing about it, it was likely that all of the other villages were too. So why hadn't Gaara said outright why he'd requested permanent residency for Lee? 

Maybe the next time Lee was in town he’d ask or maybe he should just send them a letter saying congratulations and let it be. Did their reasons for not telling him matter that much? No, they didn’t. All that mattered was that they were happy—and that Naruto was going to tease Lee about this endlessly the next time he saw him.

12.

“You _knew_?!?” Tenten shrieked.

“I had an idea. I had no idea that Lee was seeing the Kazekage though.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“It wasn’t my place,” Neji said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tenten made an angry sound, her face turning red. Sakura had told her—rather had asked her to verify the truth of the rumor, looking shocked and not entirely convinced. Of course, Tenten hadn’t known the truth so she had laughed until Neji had confirmed the truth of the rumor, or at least as much of it as he could.

Which had resulted in Tenten shouting at him once they’d found a more private place for such things. Neji had known it was going to happen, but he could never fully brace himself for Tenten's rants.

“Why didn’t he tell us?” she murmured, all the anger gone, replaced by hurt.

Neji eyed her warily. He was no good at comforting, that had always been Lee’s job. If Tenten started crying he didn’t know what he would do. “It wasn’t only his decision to make. If the Kazekage—that is, if it’s true that he’s seeing Gaara of the Desert—wanted to keep it secret, Lee wouldn’t have told anyone.”

“I bet Gai-sensei knew.”

“Of course he knew. Lee wouldn’t have kept something like that from him if he could help it. Besides which, he’d have wanted to get Gai-sensei’s approval.”

“I just… I thought that he’d have told us something like this.”

Neji sighed, looking around awkwardly before he reached out a hand to pat her on the shoulder. “We knew as much as he could tell us, Tenten. You shouldn’t take it so personally.”

“He didn’t even tell us it was another man!” she cried suddenly, sniffling. “We’re his teammates. Why didn’t he trust us?”

“I do not think that it was about trusting us or not trusting us.” He’d honestly been just as surprised when he’d heard from Sakura that Lee had moved in with the Kazekage and there was talk of them being in a relationship. “It makes sense that he wouldn’t talk about it openly, though. After all, he’s not just seeing another man, he’s seeing the leader of a another village. However, I wouldn’t take what rumormongers say to heart. It might not be Gaara of the Desert—”

Tenten snorted, interrupting him. “Could you just imagine that? Lee’s new boyfriend is the man who almost killed him?”

Neji smirked. “It would be like Lee to fall in love with that person.”

“It would be,” she agreed, smiling fondly. “He’s such a doofus.”

“Yes, but he’s our teammate. We need to support him.”

Tenten nodded. “You’re right. I’m being silly. It’s just—it’s Lee. I thought I knew him, and now…”

“I understand. I was surprised, too, when I figured it out.”

“I’ll bet,” she muttered, punching him companionably on the arm. “After all the times he chased after Sakura, I was sure the girl he’d met in Suna was some pink-haired replica.”

“Far from it,” Neji said, the echo of a laugh in his voice.

“I guess the next time he’s here I’ll just have to pester him for all the details—”

Neji groaned. “Not all the details, I hope.”

Tenten laughed, punching Neji again as they made their way to the training grounds.

13.

Getting all of the details from Lee was like pulling teeth, as it turned out, not that Tenten had expected anything less. He was, when it came right down to it, annoyingly modest, which of course meant that he was red in the face nearly the entire time he was in Konoha for his short visit. What with people looking at him and pointing, his friends trying to pry details from him, and the Hokage teasing him endlessly, Lee was probably going to end up permanently red.

It didn’t mean that she didn’t bother him for details at every turn. What kind of friend would she be if she didn’t? It was her duty to make sure that Lee was happy, as well as her duty to embarrass him thoroughly, though she made sure to punch Naruto whenever he did it—Hokage be damned. No one messed with her teammate.

“Hello, lover boy,” she teased, poking him in the ribs. Lee yelped, jumping back from her. He was already red in the face, which led Tenten to believe that he’d overheard villagers talking about him. She looked around, not at all surprised to see people watching them and a few whispering behind their hands to one another. She rolled her eyes. Everyone was just so subtle.

“Tenten,” Lee muttered, giving her a sheepish smile. “I was wondering when you would get here. I—do you think we could have lunch at your place? I know Neji is meeting us—”

“Actually, he had to go to some meeting with his family about something or other—I don’t know, I wasn’t listening, but either way, he’s not coming. Why do you want to go to my place? I thought we were going to get ramen.”

“Oh, well, I just thought it would be nice to enjoy a meal in private.”

Tenten nodded sagely. “I understand.” She leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially. “You don’t want word getting back to your boyfriend that you’re seeing women while you’re on vacation, right?”

Lee spluttered, his face turning a shade brighter. “Te-Tenten!”

“Oh, hush. I’m just teasing you. I know why you want to have lunch at my place. Come on.” She tugged him along, moving through the gossiping crowed quickly with Lee apologizing to all the people they bumped into.

“You leave tomorrow, right?” she asked once they’d arrived at her apartment.

“Yes, I promised my most important person—”

“You can say his name, you know?”

“Oh, yes, I—I know. I guess I forgot. I am so used to only Gai-sensei and Gaara’s siblings knowing—although, I suppose all of Suna has known for a while.”

“You think?”

Lee shrugged. “I can only guess, since all of Konoha seems to know. But people in Suna are much more respectful; they do not whisper about us in plain sight.”

She rolled her eyes. “I bet they do talk, otherwise we wouldn't know. And word travels fast, Lee. Plus, it’s not like you two were very subtle—well, I guess that’s not true. But moving in together! Of course people are going to talk!”

“We just wanted to keep it between ourselves and those closest to us. I was going to tell you and Neji on this visit, but since you already know…”

“Oh, did all the gossipers steal your thunder?” She was only half teasing; she could tell that Lee was truly upset to see that his village had been spreading the news of his relationship with Gaara around. He was so naïve to think the news wouldn’t have caught everyone’s attention and been the talk of every town.

Lee sighed. “I suppose I should not have moved in with him right away.”

Tenten snorted, placing a bowl of ramen in front of him. “You think? I guess you two just got caught up in the Springtime of Youth, eh?”

Lee smiled, looking down at his bowl. “I am very happy. Gaara is so different from me, but it works.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Tenten watched Lee as she made herself a bowl of ramen before joining him at the table. He did look happy beneath all the flustered, blushing avoidance. It was strange to think of Lee with Gaara when she thought about the story of Lee’s battle with him from the Chuunin exams. Even just remembering how scary Gaara had been back then made her wonder if Lee’s head was on straight.

Then again, Lee had always been different. He’d always seen what others couldn’t, always been optimistic and happy, stupidly determined and, somehow, able to make even the coldest of people smile. She couldn’t deny that Lee winning over Gaara made sense when she thought about it that way.

“It’s good to know you’re happy,” she said suddenly when they were almost finished with their meal.

Lee looked up, startled for a moment, before a smile broke out on his face. “Thank you, Tenten. I am glad that you have accepted this.”

“Dumbie, of course I accept this. You’re my teammate and I love you. So you better expect that the next time I’m on a mission near Suna I’m stopping by to say “hi” to your new, youthful love.” She gave him a playful wink, grabbing their bowls as Lee began to splutter again, looking as though you could cook an egg on his face.

Tenten shook her head. As upset as she’d been that he’d kept it from her, she could hardly blame him and seeing him now, knowing how happy he was, how devoted he was, she knew that Gaara was the right person for Lee and all her fears, and the fears of everyone else, were completely unfounded.

14.

Gaara let the scroll roll together, sitting back in his chair, an unusual expression on his face. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was close enough to one that Lee, doing squats on the other side of the room, gave Gaara a confused look. Gaara shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

The letter was from Lee’s sensei and it was a long, involved affair. Gaara could see where Lee had acquired his tendency to give flowery speeches from. It had taken him a good long while to read the entire scroll and by the end of it he felt amused and relieved, more so than when Lee had assured Gaara, shortly after he had moved in, that Gai was supportive of their relationship. Lee’s words had eased Gaara’s worries a great deal, but he’d wanted more: he’d wanted to hear it from Gai himself.

The letter rolled towards the floor, but Lee stopped it quicker than Gaara’s sand could. He didn’t even bother looking at the seal as he handed it back to Gaara. That was one of the things Gaara liked about Lee: he could trust him without reservation. It was surprising and new and, for all that Gaara was distant and found emotions difficult to understand, something he wished he’d had before now. It made him feel safe in a way that the sand never had. Perhaps it was because he felt loved.

He gave Lee one of those barely there smiles. It never seemed to matter how small his smiles were because they seemed to mean the world to Lee, judging by the way he always gave Gaara the most heartfelt, blindingly happy smiles back. Lee was so easy to please, not that this fact bothered Gaara—after all, he was bad at displays of affection like gifts and sweet-nothings, so knowing that he could keep Lee happy without much trouble was a relief.

He still tried to emulate Lee’s expressions of love—after all, he did love Lee and wanted him to be happy. Gaara's infrequent attempts at expressing his love for Lee were always awkward and difficult to maneuver, but Lee always seemed endlessly happy with him no matter how poor his attempts truly were. Lee would always smile in such a way that Gaara was left reeling, amazed that this was his life, that someone had found it in their heart to love him in such a strange, new way. 

“Your sensei sends his regards,” Gaara finally spoke, setting the scroll in a drawer.

“Gai-sensei? Was that from him?”

“Yes. He wanted to offer up his support to me, personally.”

Lee beamed, the way Gaara knew he would, before leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. He never did such things swiftly, always taking his time, as though he wanted to savor the moment. Gaara liked the slowness of Lee’s movements, the lightness of his kisses. It was all so new that it sometimes overwhelmed him—Lee was a rather overwhelming force to begin with—but they were slowly beginning to grow in their relationship and he was slowly getting used to such feelings and gestures. It was probably hard for Lee, Gaara thought sometimes, because he was such a whirlwind of emotion, so fast paced and sure of everything, while Gaara was the complete opposite. He was sure that if Lee had loved someone else—someone not so unsure and overwhelmed by it all—that the relationship would be more to Lee's speed. 

“I am glad that Gai-sensei wrote to you. You seemed uncertain before,” Lee told him, once again surprising Gaara by how intuitive he was. Even his siblings didn’t always understand his odd moods, but Lee seemed to grasp the nuances of those moods—not all of them, of course, but so many of them that it made things easier when Gaara expected them to be difficult.

“How do you do that?”

Lee frowned. “Do what?”

“You make me feel special,” Gaara murmured, his brow furrowing, “and loved, but sometimes you don’t do anything particular—you’re just there.”

One of the things Gaara had needed to get used to about Lee was his tendency to cry when he was happy. It had thrown him off the first time he’d seen Lee cry “tears of joy” as he put it; Gaara had thought, with a distant pang of guilt, that he’d done something to hurt Lee that first time he’d seen those tears and he hadn’t known the way to fix it, so when Lee had moved slowly forward to kiss him with something like contained intensity behind the kiss Gaara had been confused.

Now he was used to Lee’s odd sensitivity. He reached up, wiping a stray tear away before he moved his hand into Lee’s hair, gently pulling him down for one of those rare kisses that bordered on intense.

Lee made an odd sound in the back of his throat that Gaara had never heard before. He pulled away, worried for Lee’s health and rising to his feet so that he could force Lee into his chair.

“Gaara, what are you—”

“You sounded pained. Do you feel all right?”

Lee smiled softly—Gaara had learned to recognize that it was a smile Lee only ever gave him, one that meant Gaara had done something Lee found endearing. Temari had said Lee smiled at Gaara like that a lot when he wasn’t looking. “Nothing is wrong, Gaara. I was just—” Lee flushed, lowering his voice. “I just like kissing you. It was a—a good sound.”

“Oh.”

“I did not mean to worry you.”

“It’s not your fault. There is still much about this type of bond that I don’t understand, after all. I am grateful that you have been so patient with me.”

“Patient?” Lee asked, shaking his head. “I do not need patience. I am happy to explore this with you, no matter how slow. This is new for me too and I do not want to rush it. Every moment is worth it, every discovery.” He smiled, bring a hand up to Gaara's cheek. “I do not need to be patient because I love you.”

Gaara yearned for the moments when Lee told him that he loved him with a dangerously passionate fervor that hearkened back to his youth when killing had defined him. He ate up the words like a starving dog without a home and then begged for more; he needed to hear it on a daily basis—something Lee had figured out rather quickly—because it reassured him. However, it had taken him much longer to return the sentiment. Lee had understood, but Gaara had thought it unfair all the same. He hadn’t understood until after a talk with Temari that, though Lee accepted that Gaara could not repeat the sentiment, he still felt sadness when he didn’t hear it back. Gaara had thought long and hard about what love meant, what it felt like to be loved, and what he thought it must feel like to love; he wanted to give Lee love in return, not just devour all the love Lee could give, but he didn’t want to say it without meaning it.

He didn’t necessarily grasp it fully, but he knew that he loved Lee. He just couldn’t explain how he knew it, which had kept him from saying it until he’d accepted that it was not something that needed explanation. Now, he made sure to tell Lee every day, multiple times a day, the way Lee did for him.

Gaara leaned forward, pressing his mouth against Lee’s in a softer kiss. He kept himself close, basking in the warmth of Lee’s body, the strength he felt beneath his hands, and the knowledge that this person loved him.

“I love you,” he whispered, a barely noticeable hint of emotion in his voice. He felt Lee’s excited twitching—he always did that, as though he wanted to pull Gaara closer in a tight embrace but was refraining—and pulled back, looking into Lee’s too large eyes. “Your sensei wanted to make sure that I know how lucky I am.”

Lee laughed, a joyous sound that reverberated in Gaara’s chest, filling him with that distant joy he couldn’t full grasp, but was learning to appreciate nonetheless. “Will you write back to him?”

“Of course. He is important to you; I do not want to disrespect him or your relationship with him by ignoring his attempts to reach out and offer me—us—his support. I’d also like to inform him that I know.”

“Know?”

“How lucky I am.”

Lee blinked, a faint pink flush appearing on his cheeks and a slow smile spreading on his face. It wasn’t the blinding smile he always offered when Gaara did something that pleased him or the fond smile when Gaara did something Lee found endearing. It was new, but it held all the same meaning as the other smiles and more. Gaara felt distant happiness draw slightly nearer as Lee leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead.


End file.
